Empty Hearts
by the only one
Summary: inspired by o-town's These Are The Days. s/v think about their situation. (some are real events, some aren't.)


Empty Hearts-  
by the only one  
Seemingly random events are montaged together so Syd and Vaughn can interpret their 'situation.'  
  
-  
  
'empty room like an empty heart'  
  
Sydney watched as Vaughn turned and walked away. It's usually her who is the first to leave Mikro Self-Storage after their discussions or his briefing her of the countermission. They would sit across from one another, sometimes looking each other in the eye and other times looking off to the side.  
  
He probably has somewhere to go, she figures, with Alice most likely. She can't believe she's prejudged their relationship and labeled it as the kind where he does everything for her. But that's not the Vaughn she knows. Her Vaughn would never succomb to his girlfriend's every wish. Vaughn isn't hers, though, so she feels she knows nothing of his true personality.  
  
Who knows? she thought. Maybe his personal life is nothing like his professional life. She forced herself to doubt this as she gathered her coat and purse.  
  
-  
  
'these are the days when all that i can do is dream'  
  
The door swings shut just a few feet in front of Vaughn. Sydney has beat him by only a few footsteps. The agent manning the security cameras outside glances at him before pretending to watch the screens, really watching Vaughn. He fixes his headphones and shifts in his chair.  
  
It's not everyday that a senior officer follows someone out the door, stops, and smiles before turning around and walking back to his computer against the flow of people.  
  
The agent has probably put two and two together, but his answer isn't four. He knows about the Agent Bristows and Vaughn's interaction with them. Everyone at the Joint Task Force Center does. In fact, this agent has been ordered to bug Agent Vaughn and Agent Bristow's badge and identification card to monitor their conversations, without their knowing.  
  
Vaughn reaches his computer and sits down, the little smile still on his face. Perhaps their moment really will come.  
  
-  
  
'but i dont want to spend forever living in the in-between'  
  
It had been Alice's idea to go to Francie's restaurant for New Year's. Vaughn had discouraged it as much as he could, saying it would be better if it was just them in his apartment and they didn't need to go anywhere to celebrate an event that happened every year. She had laughed at that, replying that he was too much of a professional at home.  
  
He finally agreed to go when they had lunch together on December 31. What he hoped was Sydney wouldn't be there, even though it would be dark and loud most of the night. And he'd probably drink himself dead just so he wouldn't remember what might happen.  
  
That night, Sydney was there, but she didn't notice Vaughn until about 11:50, when someone suggested everyone say one of their resolutions. Alice had safely escaped to the ladies' room, but Vaughn looked like a deer caught in headlights when the attention of the entire crowd shifted to him. He said the first thing that came to his mind. "This year I'm not going to work as hard." The crowd roared its agreement and conversations started all around on where people worked.  
  
Yards in front of him, Sydney started pushing through to get to him. Obviously, she had thought him alone, and she acted like a stranger who agreed with him. Music started pumping then, and Sydney pulled him into the middle of the crowd so they could talk. There was a grin on her face the whole time, and Vaughn was glad that all he had so far that night was a single grasshopper. She was pressed against him, but it wasn't just that that caused him to smile as she looped her arms lazily around his neck.  
  
Alice suddenly appeared behind Sydney, and at that moment someone requested an even louder song. Before Vaughn could reach for Alice and tell Sydney she was there, the crowd pushed her away, jumping to the beat the bass provided.   
  
-  
  
'these are the moments that are still unclear'  
  
Sydney leaves Mikro Self-Storage angrily. She refuses to believe Vaughn's theory that her father had set up her mother in Madagascar. As she has said many times, her mother is a monster and a traitor who betrayed her country, not to mention her family.  
  
Vaughn sits on a crate. If she doesn't want to believe him, she doesn't have to. He wants her to see that her mother is not the culprit here. In other places, times she definitely was. But not now.  
  
It's times like these that cause Vaughn to wonder if he deals with the Bristows too much. He'd almost been killed when the three of them went to Taipei together. Jack Bristow harrassed him almost every time he saw him. Irina—well, her actions were so immense that he couldn't exactly think rationally on her account. And Sydney, she was absolutely impossible to read. He never knew what she was really saying when she spoke to him when they were alone.  
  
Intent on relaxing a little, he takes out his cell phone and plays a game. He concentrates on pushing the right buttons until the agent guarding the building comes in and stumbles upon Vaughn as he locks the gate.  
  
-  
  
'these are the days between the hopes and fears'  
  
Sydney watched him for a second before he turned to face her. A brief conversation then ensued, and Sydney extracted some of his blood. He seemed to lose extra energy as the liquid drained out. She couldn't bear to see him like this. She would rather be in his place.  
  
Vaughn clutched her hand, and she put her other on it, wrapping it in warmth. There are tears on her cheeks as he tells her to be careful. Suddenly, without warning, a high-pitched beep is emitted from the ekg beside him. She called out his name, wondering what was happening. Doctors and nurses appeared, pushing Vaughn away from her. A different nurse told her her designated cover.   
  
Sydney stood, watching the swinging doors stop swinging. She wiped the tears off her face, not wanting anyone else to notice her emotion. She turned around, and in front of her is a petite blonde. I got here as fast as I can, she said. The rest flew past her ears. Sydney introduced herself, told how she knew Vaughn. I'm Michael's girlfriend, the woman said, and Sydney froze.  
  
She left then, quickly, unsure of neither how she should act or how she wanted to act. But one thing ran through her mind clearly: she had to get the antidote.  
  
-  
  
'but for now i'm going to have to face it, these are the days'  
  
They sit too close to each other, leaning on the edge of a wall. The grasshopper joke is still fresh in their memories, having taken place moments previously. Both Doug and Phil are unfunny, but Sydney and Vaughn have smiles on their faces as they think. They're watching their feet, or maybe the ground just past their feet. They don't really know. Sydney puts her hand on his, repaying him for the time he had taken her hand in his.   
  
-  
  
a/n: i refuse to call this a songfic because i never thought i would write one. it is inspired by o-town 'these are the days' and that's it. oh, and is it an ekg that measures your heart? i barely remember from health such a long while ago.  
this is new territory for me; anyone care to point out any weirdness? if you cant find any, or if you just feel like it, review!!!  
1/10: i'm going to continue this after exams. 


End file.
